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Developers behind the Lime St regeneration have said heritage campaigners need to “face facts” that The Futurist will not be saved.

Neptune Developments, who are in charge of the £35m scheme to regenerate Lime Street, have spoken out against Save Britain’s Heritage’s long-standing campaign to save the former cinema .

Heritage campaigners who fought to save the building have now admitted that the body of the building is ‘beyond repair’ after their own structural engineer was allowed to inspect the building.

Google Earth image showing holes in the roof of the Futurist cinema in Lime Street, Liverpool

Rob Mason, director at Neptune Developments said: “We welcome the fact that that Save’s own structural engineers now concede that the body of the building is beyond repair and that the façade is in a dangerous condition with an imminent risk of collapse.

“We have surely reached a point where everyone needs to face facts and get on with a development that is long overdue. It is also becoming difficult to understand what Save can hope to achieve beyond publicity and further delays to a much needed regeneration project.”

In an earlier design proposal for Lime Street dating back to 2006, English Heritage rejected an idea to retain the façade of the building.

The Futurist Cinema on Lime Street

In a letter to the then architect, they said: “As the Lime Street properties, between the two listed pubs, have been assessed and considered not to be of listable quality, we would not advocate the retention of the façade of the Futurist.”